Mentor North was established in 2019 as a one-on-one, community based mentoring organization. Our guiding principles are outlined by the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring (4th Ed.). Mentor North’s programs each have a rich and varied history for how they developed and came to serve the community.
We collectively acknowledge that we are located on traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of the Anishinaabe. We have so much to learn from our Indigenous neighbors, and we hold ourselves accountable to supporting and advocating for the sovereignty of the Native nations in this region and beyond.
A group of men from the Duluth YMCA saw the need for young men to have positive adult role models, as most of their fathers were away serving in World War II. They formed the “Fatherless Boys Association”.
The first Holiday Party was planned with support from the Kiwanis Club of Friendly Duluth, Rotary 25, and the Jewish Fellowship.
The first annual summer BBQ was planned with support from the Duluth Noon Optimist Club. This is still an annual event for Mentor North.
The Fatherless Boys Association was “officially” founded by the United Way and a committee was formed to help oversee the program, which now served 30-40 children each year.
The name of the program was changed to Friendship and Brotherhood Association, and young girls were invited to be a part of the program.
The name of the program changed again to Friendship Between the Ages.
The Ordean Foundation did a community-wide needs assessment which reaffirmed the need for more positive adults in the lives of youth in Duluth. This sparked the transformation of mentoring into the Mentor Duluth Collaborative, which united the Duluth YMCA, Neighborhood Youth Services, Valley Youth Centers, YWCA of Duluth, Boys and Girls Club, and Proctor/Hermantown Community Education under one mentoring umbrella.
The Mentor Duluth Collaborative partnered with the True North AmeriCorps program to provide academic mentoring opportunities to after school sites in Duluth, MN. This program was known as Five Points.
Leadership Superior-Douglas County identified a need for a mentoring program in Superior, WI and approached the Mentor Duluth Collaborative to join. Mentor Superior was founded as the seventh agency with the Collaborative, working alongside the Duluth YMCA, Neighborhood Youth Services, Valley Youth Center, Boys and Girls Club of the Northland, YWCA of Duluth, and Proctor/Hermantown Community Education to provide mentoring opportunities to youth in the Twin Ports.
Mentor Superior’s first annual Fall Fest took place at Barker’s Island, celebrating 5 years of mentoring in the community.
Conversations with directors and community leaders lead the Collaborative to apply for 501c3 status, called Mentor North, to create an individual entity to oversee mentoring, continue growth and advance opportunity.
Mentor North secured 501c3 nonprofit status, and became the parent organization serving both Mentor Duluth and Mentor Superior.
The COVID-19 pandemic closed the local schools, and Mentor Duluth and Mentor Superior Program Advocates connected with their caseloads to listen to the needs of families and matches. They heard overwhelmingly a need for academic support. Mentor North approached the school district with a pilot program to launch Five Points, and the school district accepted. Mentor North wanted to bring the Five Points program name back to honor the previous program, while also recognizing that it provides a strong visual of a successful mentoring relationship.
Mentor North and Duluth Aging Support began brainstorming ideas for creating an intergenerational mentoring program to support younger adults and older adults building a quality relationship to reduce ageism, promote healthy aging, and increase generosity and community volunteerism.
Five Points launched its pilot year.
Mutual Mentoring launched its pilot year.
At the end of the 2021-2022 academic year, Mentor North retired the Five Points program due to declining enrollment numbers and a decrease in expressed community need for this type of support. Additionally, Mentor North ended the Mutual Mentoring program after its pilot year due to the continued presence of COVID-19 and the unique challenges this pandemic presented to a safe continuation of programming across generations.
Mentor North continues to focus on its core programing with Mentor Superior and Mentor Duluth.